Three games, three victories; and the living dream of number 1. Horacio Zeballos y Marcel Granollers They closed their time in the best way round robin of the doubles tournament ATP Finals in Turin. In his last presentation at the Green Groupdefeated 6-3 and 6-4 Andres Molteni y Maximo Gonzalezin a special match because for the first time in the history of the tournament there were three Argentines on the court at the same time.
Thus, the man from Mar del Plata and the Spaniard, who had already secured a place in the semis, remained undefeated and took first place in the area. And now, they will face the playoffs with the concrete chance of finishing the season at the top of the world doubles ranking.
They have already taken the first step to achieve that goal: winning the three games in the group stage. Now, they will go for the biggest challenge: to be crowned champions to climb to the top. If they achieve it, Zeballos will make history, because never before has an Argentine been number one in the ATPneither in singles nor in doubles.
Yes it happened in the doubles ranking of the WTAwhere so much Paola Suarez y Gisela Dulko They once occupied that position and closed seasons at the top of the couples classification. The native of Pergamino, in 2002, 2003 and 2004 together with the Spanish Virginia Ruano Easter; and the Tigrense, in 2010, with the Italian Flavia Pennetta.
Zeballos and Granollers, champions this year in the Masters 1000 in Shanghai and finalists in Wimbledonhad debuted with a hard-fought victory 2-6, 6-3 and 10-7 against the Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and the french Edouard Roger Vasselin. And then they had achieved a resounding victory by a double 6-4 against the Croatian Ivan Dodig and the American Austin Krajicekthe best couple on the circuit, who was left out of the next phase.
They still do not know their semi-final rivals: they will face the duo that finishes second in the Red Groupwho will be the winner of the match they will play this Friday Wesley Koolhof–Neal Skupski y Rohan Bopanna–Matthew Ebdensecond and third in the season standings, respectively.
It will be the third time Onion and his partner compete in the semi-finals of the competition. They reached that stage in their first participation together, in 2020, when they lost to the Dutch Koolhof and the Croatian Nikola Mektic; and again in 2021, when they fell to the French Nicolas Mahut y Pierre Hugues Herbert. Last year, meanwhile, they couldn’t win a single game in the round robin.
The other semi-final key will face the American Rajeev Ram and the british Joe Salisburysixth seeded, with the Mexican González and the Frenchman Roger Vasselin, fourth seeds.
Zeballos’ joy contrasted with the farewell of Molteni and González, who were eliminated without victories. Likewise, the 35-year-old from Buenos Aires and the 40-year-old from Tandil left with the satisfaction of having lowered the curtain on an unforgettable season in the Masters Tournament, which they played for the first time. In 2023, they won five titles together, including the Cincinnati Masters 1000and broke into the top 10 of the world ranking.
2023-11-17 00:50:47
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